Thy Eternal Summer
by TaylorRose16
Summary: The situation seemed completely hopeless. Having already lost so many of the people she loved, Lucy feels completely and utterly broken. But with the last words of her best friend echoing in her mind, she refuses to accept defeat. Nothing was going to stand in her way of protecting the future. :takes place during the GMG Dragon War, Lucy's POV, violence/character death:


**My first _Fairy Tail_ fic, yay! I've been dying to write something for FT (something short, cuz I've been working on the layout for a much bigger story for the past couple months and I wanted to practice writing the characters before diving into that bad boy) and here it is ****finally!**

**Okay, first things first, the reason that this fic came into existence was because I was struck with inspiration by a gorgeous set of fanart posted on Tumblr. Please, please go check it out! You can find it here: eagerladybug . tumblrcom/ post/99433433268 (just remove the spaces and add the period between tumblr and com - ****fanfiction really sucks with posting links) The title for this fic is also derived from the sonnet used with the fanart. The cover image for this story is a piece of that fanart, and I've received permission from the artist to use it as such!**

**So anyway, without further ado, I really hope you like the story! I worked really hard on it and am pretty pleased with the result. :)**

_**Disclaimer: I do NOT own **_**Fairy Tail**_** or any of its characters.**_

**P.S. - I'm sure you'll be able to figure it out pretty quickly, but it's told through Lucy's point of view. I normally don't like writing in a first-person POV, but for this story I really felt that it called for it. So please enjoy!**

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><p><em>It's not possible, <em>I kept telling myself as tears continually flowed down my cheeks. _Natsu… please… it's just not possible!_

The world around us had been reduced to a bloody wasteland, devoid of any people whatsoever. The once proud and tenacious wizards that stood together before the impending dragon armada were now all gone, having been killed mercilessly in battle. Even those I held dear, the mages of the proud guild Fairy Tail, were all dead.

All but Natsu and me. We were the last ones standing in the hell that our world had been transformed into. And despite the extreme hopelessness of the situation, that stubborn, spiky-haired Dragon Slayer was jumping from dragon to dragon in the crimson sky, repeatedly blasting the beasts with different magical techniques he had come to learn since he was a boy. I watched from the ground, sinking deeper and deeper into despair. I had long since lost my precious keys that connected me to the Celestial Spirits, so even if I had the morale to fight like Natsu, I would be of no help. Everything was just so futile at this point… No, it had been futile since the moment the dragons appeared. Even with the Dragon Slayers, we were absolutely no match against those giant monsters.

My throat closed up when Natsu was suddenly thrown ruthlessly to the ground. I shakily got up from my knees and ran forward, spotting him among the rubble a short distance away.

"Natsu!" I cried in distress. He had been at such a great height, on the back of a dragon, when he had been shot down to the surface. Was he…?

"I ain't givin' up, no matter what…" I could just barely hear his breathless voice as he again pushed himself back to his feet. Tears welled up in my eyes as he faced another oncoming dragon. "I ain't gonna run away… or go back…" A brilliant flame burst to life around his clenched fist, and my legs gave out beneath me yet again as he charged forward. "This ain't over!" he roared determinedly, advancing on the dragon with his flaming fist raised high.

"Natsu!" I screamed. He jumped into the air and punched the approaching dragon squarely in the snout before flipping over and sending a flaming kick to the top of its head, effectively crashing it into the ground. The victory was short-lived, as the dragon was up and snapping at the wizard again in a matter of seconds.

Was there anything I could possibly do? I couldn't call upon my Spirits and I knew for certain that performing the extremely powerful spell Urano Metria was out of the question for me at the moment. Oh, how useless I was! My head fell into my hands and my body was wracked with sobs. How had it come to this end? Why did we have to endure this horror? What had we done to deserve any of this?!

A sudden scream tore me out of my thoughts and my head snapped up. It took me a moment to locate him, but when I did my chest constricted and my breathing stopped. Natsu, bruised and bloody, was pinned underneath a dragon's large claw and, although he was fighting back, his movements were slow. He was screaming profanities a mile a minute, but was cut off when the dragon suddenly put more pressure on him.

Without thinking, I was on my feet in an instant and sprinting forward. Despite knowing it would be useless, my hand reached for the coiled whip at my side and cracked it into action. Natsu, upon hearing the crack of the whip, weakly rolled his head towards me.

"Lu… cy…" he groaned through clenched teeth. "No… get… back…"

With a distressed cry, I cracked my weapon against the claw that held my best friend captive. Again and again, I threw the whip against the unyielding scales, tears freely cascading down my cheeks.

"Let… him… go!" I shrieked repeatedly. "Please… please, let him go!"

Something slammed into me from the side and I was sent flying until I crashed harshly into an upturned piece of debris. Upon impact, blood sputtered from my mouth. I could tell Natsu had screamed my name, but I couldn't hear him through the ringing that filled my ears. Slowly, I fell to my hands and knees, attempting to get back the breath that had left me. More blood dribbled from my lips but I paid it no mind, weakly lifting my head to look back to the place I had just been. It was obvious now that what had slammed into me had been the dragon's other claw. I hadn't been thinking clearly, only focused on wanting to save Natsu, but oh how careless I had been!

Upon looking up, I noticed that the dragon had lifted its claw and was now holding Natsu up in an iron grip before its ferocious eyes. The beast was staring at him as if he was nothing more than an insect, which was exactly what we were to them.

Still panting and gasping, I pushed myself to my feet and started hobbling towards them again, leaving my whip cast away across the ground. "Nat… su…" I heaved, refusing to stop no matter how exhausted I felt. When I was relatively close, the dragon took notice of me again and reached its free claw towards me. I had no strength to try to dodge it, but before it could get even close to me, a burst of fire erupted from Natsu's mouth and engulfed the dragon's entire head. Although I'm sure it had no effect on it, the dragon still appeared annoyed at the attack, and tossed Natsu cruelly to the ground in response. Ignoring my pain and fatigue, I rushed forward, my only thought being that I had to reach his side. The dragon saw this and stepped between us, focusing itself on me as I stopped in my tracks and stared up into its menacing gaze. The beast opened its massive mouth, showing off its terribly sharp teeth, and let loose a roar that shook the earth beneath my feet. My hands reflexively flew up to cover my ears, but I noticed too late that the dragon's mouth was now advancing towards me.

My eyes widened.

A form moved in front of me.

I was pushed backwards.

The dragon's open mouth crashed against the ground in front of me. I was showered with rocks and debris, and coughed from the rising dust. What had just happened? It had all moved so fast, my eyes couldn't keep up. I looked forward and noticed the dragon raising its head from the ground.

And then I noticed a white scarf lying among the rubble.

Horror set in. When I turned my gaze upwards, the dragon's mouth was still open and the rocks that it had bit into were falling to the ground. When they were out of the way, I could clearly see a human body inside the mouth of the beast, and the dragon must have seen the look of terror on my face because it lowered its head with its open mouth to show off its prize.

I could tell Natsu couldn't move. He couldn't escape the dragon's massive maw. But when I moved forward with his name ripping from my throat, I saw his lips turned up in a weak but confident smile.

"Lucy…" he rasped, his voice hoarse. I reached out my hand towards him, hot tears spilling down my face. "Lucy… protect… the future..."

In an instant, the dragon's giant mouth snapped closed in front of me. A burst of blood coated the creature's white teeth and splattered up my right arm as a surging pain erupted through it. The dragon moved its head back away from me and licked the crimson liquid from its teeth. I screamed out, but it wasn't because the dragon had just ripped off one of my appendages.

"_NATSUUUUU!_"

My voice cracked and the scream broke off into a hysterical sob. My legs gave out beneath me and I crumbled to my knees, openly wailing. Blood was gushing from where my arm had been severed, but it was difficult for me to care at all at the moment.

Everything was truly over. My world was shattered. The person I cared for most in the entire world… was gone. Everything… was over…

As I continued to utterly break down, the world began spinning and turning hazy. Numbness started to spread through my body and my head began to swim. I didn't even notice when I fell onto my side, still wracked with uncontrollable sobs. I was starting to see black spots invade my vision and I felt myself growing weaker and weaker. Was I dying? I guess that wouldn't be so bad… because then I could rejoin all the people I've lost… I could rejoin Natsu…

The last thing I was aware of before blacking out completely was someone yelling out the words "Solid Script: Fire!"

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><p>The darkness was comforting. Floating in that inky space, I seemed to feel no pain. The horrors of reality didn't dare follow me there, so I was at peace. Why hadn't I succumbed to this sooner? Why had I withstood the terrors of reality for so long when this peacefulness was eagerly awaiting me? I would have been happy enough staying in the darkness forever.<p>

If it weren't for the fact that I felt truly and utterly alone.

Something was missing here, but I couldn't tell what it was. The loneliness brought a cold feeling to the darkness, and I didn't particularly care for it. Why wouldn't it go away? All I wanted was to be at peace. Was that too much to ask for?

Apparently it was, because the darkness was suddenly beginning to reject me. I felt myself rising as if from the dead and re-entering the world of the living.

Slowly, I became more and more aware of a dull throbbing in my right arm. The darkness that surrounded me was beginning to give way to light. Just as I was starting to surface from the recesses of my unconscious mind, I suddenly became wracked with an overwhelming headache. I groaned and tried to sit up, but a pair of small hands grabbed my shoulders and gently pushed me back down.

"Don't try to put any pressure on yourself, Lu-chan," a kind, familiar voice said. I slowly opened my weary eyes and was greeted by a petite face framed by messy light blue hair. She looked exhausted, and there were tear streaks running down her dirt-caked cheeks, but she offered me a sincere smile that for some reason nearly broke my heart.

After a quick glance around at our surroundings, I noticed that we were in some sort of cave or, upon closer inspection, in a covered area underneath some large debris. The sounds of distant roars and explosions pierced my ears, and I noticed Levy's smile melt into a frown.

"I did what I could for your arm, but you lost quite a lot of blood," she murmured, looking down at her hands almost guiltily. I raised my eyebrows in confusion, not quite sure what she meant, and then looked down at my right arm.

It took just one glance for everything to come rushing back at full force.

All of the people I loved more than anything fighting against an unbeatable enemy, having to watch helplessly as one after another was ruthlessly and violently murdered, a bloody red sky that seemed to close in on me from all directions, countless amounts of those giant winged beasts blasting their destructive flames down to earth, Natsu refusing to-

…_Natsu_.

Suddenly, my breath caught in my throat and a giant invisible weight dropped right onto my chest. An image of a set of razor-sharp teeth larger than my whole body snapping shut flashed before my eyes. I began gasping incoherently and uncontrollable gushes of tears came spilling from my eyes. I threw my left hand over my mouth to try to stop my insane hiccuping and the strange gurgling noise coming from my throat, but it didn't help at all. Fresh tears appeared in Levy's eyes and she immediately moved forward to pull me into her arms despite the fact that I was shaking and spasming and sobbing like there was no tomorrow.

I don't know for how long we sat there like that, with me crying out my despair and Levy holding me gently as tears flowed down her cheeks as well. Several times I felt lightheaded and I couldn't breathe, but although my crying never stopped, Levy's gentle hand stroking my hair managed to help bring me back.

Eventually, my hyperventilating died down and I was finally able to suppress my tears. Or, it felt more like my body had just run out and was no longer able to produce any. I took several deep breaths and Levy offered me some water with her solid script magic, which I drank gratefully. I slowly lifted my right arm and observed the bloody bandages that wrapped around the stump shortly above my elbow. Another image of those huge teeth closing before me, cutting off my view of Natsu, appeared in my mind, and my bottom lip quivered dangerously.

"H-H-He's gone…" I whispered shakily. My voice was extremely hoarse. "I d-didn't think… it could actually b-be possible…"

"He fought to the very end," Levy offered, "trying to protect those he cared about."

"But couldn't he see how hopeless it was?!" I suddenly cried, turning sharply towards my friend. "Couldn't he tell that Dragon Slayer magic wasn't having any effect on them?! Everyone was dying! Gray… Erza… _everyone!_ There was no chance of us winning at all! So why… why did he have to keep fighting?! _Why did he have to die?!_"

Unable to conjure any water to produce tears, my body began to convulse. Levy, initially shocked by my outburst, reached towards me and hugged me again.

"…because you hadn't died yet," she murmured softly into my ear. It took a bit to calm my body down, but when I had I moved out of her arms to show her my confused expression. "He still had you there with him, he still had you to protect. Of course he wasn't going to just give up. He loved you, and as long as he had you, he had a reason to fight."

I stared at her as my brain tried to process her words. Of course I loved Natsu too and proudly fought by his side for as long as I could bear, but how had he kept up so much resolve after watching so many of his loved ones perish right before his eyes? How had he obtained such an infinitely strong will? Had there been some silver lining he had seen that I couldn't?

"_Lucy… protect… the future…" _His last words spoken to me from within the dragon's mouth echoed through my mind. Protect the future? What future? At the rate things were going, humanity would be completely wiped out within a few days. Besides, all the people I had wanted to protect I had failed in doing so.

"Oh, by the way." Levy broke me out of my thoughts and I watched as she grabbed and pulled something white towards me. I recognized it immediately and choked up again. "I saw it on the ground when I came to help you and managed to grab it. I thought you'd want to have it…"

Without even thanking her, I reached forward hastily and ripped it from her hands. I cradled the scarf in my arms, rubbing it against my cheek and letting myself be enveloped in his scent. It really did smell just like him, and it brought a wave of memories crashing through my mind. The sudden nostalgia the scarf brought on made me start to feel incredibly homesick, but I wasn't about to throw away my last connection to the boy I loved. Slowly, I wrapped the scale-patterned scarf around my neck, welcoming the warmth it gave me, and finally whispered my thanks. Levy smiled, not seeming angry about my greedy reaction at all.

"How did you find me?" I asked after a short bout of silence.

"I was searching for any possible survivors, and I was just beginning to lose hope when I heard you scream," Levy explained as she began to unwrap my bandages to replace them with clean ones. "I wasn't close enough to prevent the dragon from…" She paused and bit her lip, but when I gave her a small nod she continued. "But I ran as fast as I could to do whatever was in my power to ensure your safety. It wasn't easy to fend off that dragon, but I was able to trick it into thinking I had run off in one direction when I had really gone the other. Luckily, no other dragons seemed to pay any mind, so I was able to grab you and get out of there as fast as possible. I brought you back to where I had found some shelter and treated your arm to the best of my ability… You were unconscious for a long time and I was really scared." I noticed her eyes begin to well up and her hands stopped their movements momentarily, so I lifted my hand and gently placed it on top of her own.

"Thank you," I murmured. "If it hadn't been for you, I'd be dead now too." I looked into her glossy eyes and willed myself to give her a smile, even if it was a small, shaky one. Levy stared at me, sniffed and wiped her eyes, and then smiled back. She then continued wrapping new bandage around the end of my arm. "I'm relieved that you're okay, Levy-chan," I continued, watching her hands work. The sight of my arm ending where it normally shouldn't turned my stomach upside down, but having Levy take care of me offered me some calm.

"It's thanks to Gajeel, really," she replied, tying off the last of the bandage and disposing of the bloody ones. I saw her bottom lip quiver. "I'll never be able to repay him for everything he did for me…"

"Maybe you will," I told her, taking one of her hands in mine and smiling weakly again. "Who knows, maybe we'll both be able to repay those who protected us somehow." She returned the smile and placed her other hand on top of our entwined ones.

"You're right," she whispered. "I'm sure our loved ones are waiting for us somewhere."

We were silent for a few minutes after that, and I only then noticed that the only article of my clothing that remained on my upper body was my cropped, sleeveless white shirt. Of course it was dirty and bloody, but at least it was still wearable. Although it did make my incomplete right arm stand out a bit more.

It was while I was staring down at the stump of my arm that I suddenly gasped. Levy, who had been staring out through the opening of our hideaway, whipped her head to the side with wide eyes.

"What is it?" she asked urgently, leaning in close to me. "Are you in pain?" I shook my head, still staring down at where my hand used to be.

"It's just… m-my guild mark…" I muttered quietly. The sense of forlorn I had already been feeling grew inside me. I thought back to the day Natsu brought me to Fairy Tail, where I met all of the people I had cared so much for, and where I had received my guild mark… on the back of my right hand.

"Lu-chan…" Levy whispered sadly next to me.

After another short moment of silence, I straightened up and shook my head, looking over at my friend and giving her a kind smile.

"No," I said to her. "It's not a mark that connects us, it's our feelings. Our bonds. The promises we've made to always be there for each other and to fight till the very end." My smile turned into a determined expression as I pictured Natsu in my mind again. "And because of that promise, I can't give up yet. Natsu told me to protect the future, so that's exactly what I'm going to do."

I started trying to get to my feet, but when I began to sway slightly Levy caught me and lowered me back to the ground.

"You shouldn't be getting up yet, Lu-chan! You lost too much blood to be moving around so soon!"

"But I have to… I have to save this world!" I muttered through my teeth, grasping Natsu's scarf tightly in my hand and squeezing my eyes shut in desperation. "I have to protect it!"

"W-What can you do?" Levy asked quietly. "What can _we_ do? We're just two girls against an entire army of 10,000 dragons!" I looked up into Levy's eyes, and perhaps I was looking for some sort of answer there, but instead I just found the anguish and fear of a broken teenage girl who had witnessed too much death and destruction to see any hope before her. I suddenly felt my own eyes begin to grow wet.

"I… I don't know," I admitted, my voice teary and barely above a whisper. I hung my head and bit my lip, trying to suppress the tears that were threatening to leak out. I couldn't cry right now… I had to be strong. I needed to be strong for Natsu, and for everyone else that had given their lives trying to protect this world! I reached out and grabbed her shoulder, lifting my head and looking back into her eyes. "I don't know, but there has to be something! Natsu entrusted this mission to me, so there has to be a way! I can't let him down!"

Levy studied me carefully as my words hung in the air and I could tell she was sifting through her studious mind for anything at all that might be of any use. After a moment, she sighed.

"I'm sorry Lu-chan, but the only way I can see things possibly turning around for the better was if you could somehow send yourself back in time, but even then it might cause a major time paradox that could potentially be even worse than 10,000 dragons attacking."

My face fell at her words. No… there had to be a way! There _had_ to!

I hung my head again and shut my eyes, refusing to believe the notion that everything was truly doomed. My hand was still on Levy's shoulder, and I felt her place her own hand on top of mine as she apologized once again. But I barely heard her, as a memory was beginning to surface. It seemed like it was from a long time ago, but then I realized that it had been during the Grand Magic Games, and they had literally just ended when the dragons attacked. The war with those beasts and then being trapped in unconsciousness for however long had completely messed up my sense of time.

_Time._ They… they had wanted to go back in time. They had wanted to go back and kill the black wizard Zeref before he could do any harm to the world, essentially protecting the future from his evil ways.

_Protecting the future._ They had wanted to protect the future! The people in the palace had wanted to protect the future from Zeref! And so they… they…

They built a time-travelling portal. The Eclipse Portal. Captain Arcadios and Yukino had showed it to us before they, along with myself, had been arrested by the royal army. There actually was a way to travel to the past!

My head snapped back up and I looked at Levy with determination in my eyes. "That's it, Levy-chan! We _can_ travel back in time!" A look of confusion spread across her face.

"W-Wha-"

I gently shook her back and forth. "There's a portal at the palace! It was constructed by a faction of the royal army to go back in time and stop Zeref, but if we go back there we can use it to stop this war! We can go back and warn Natsu and the others about the oncoming dragons and then maybe they'll be able to do something to stop them!"

"Did you not hear the part where I mentioned going back in time could cause a time paradox?" Levy asked, grabbing my arm and stopping me from shaking her.

"We have to try!" I argued. "It's the only choice we have!"

Levy's eyebrows creased together and she looked worriedly at me, but right now all I had to offer back to her was determination. A possibility to save the world, to save Natsu and everyone else, had come about. There was no way I wasn't going to try, no matter what. I again started getting to my feet, using the upturned debris to steady myself, and Levy got up immediately.

"Wait Lu-chan, how are you even supposed to get to the palace?" she asked, throwing out her arms to help support me. "In your condition, you won't make it very far before wearing yourself out, and that's without worrying about the dragons!"

"I don't care," I told her, already feeling beads of sweat pop up on my forehead. I ignored them and grabbed for Natsu's scarf again. "I have to get to that portal. _I have to._"

Levy watched me for a moment and I couldn't tell what was going through her mind. I looked over her features, taking note of the dark circles under her usually lively eyes and her chapped lips that at the moment were turned down in a frown. Seeing Levy with any other expression besides her cheerful smile was just so wrong to me, and I was suddenly fueled with even more motivation to get to that damn portal.

I began moving away from Levy, towards the opening of our hideaway that would expose me back to the world of horrors that laid just beyond, but she grabbed my arm and forced me to stop. I looked back at her and saw a shadow formed over her eyes, and for a moment I was worried. Was she really not going to let me go? Was she going to force me to stay cooped up here with the possibility of salvation just outside my reach? Would the Levy-chan I've known for a year really do that?

"I'll go with you," she said in a low voice, and when she looked up at me and that shadow disappeared I saw her eyes mirroring the same determination I felt inside me. My worries were instantly washed away, and I smiled at her.

"Levy-chan… thank you," I responded, and she returned the smile with a little nod.

And like that, we ventured out into the world that burned with dreadful grievances. We were surprised to discover that the dragons were no longer here, but had most likely moved onto the next city or country or continent to continue their destruction. So with them out of the way, all we had left to do was travel through the destroyed city of Crocus. We climbed through debris, stumbled along upturned pathways, and I did my best not to lose my consciousness. I really had lost a lot of blood, and it was evidenced by the fact that I couldn't walk without Levy supporting me. But I didn't care how fatigued I got; I was going to get to that portal.

The crimson sky eventually melted into a dark blue and then black, and millions of stars poked out from the heavens. The moon, which was now beginning to wane, also revealed itself and offered us its soft light. Before it had gotten too dark out, I had found a long, black cloak among the rubble of the city and, after Levy insisted she didn't need it, clasped it around my shoulders to help keep me warm and also to hide my severed arm from view. Now, as the temperature started to drop, I was glad I had found it.

I don't know how long it took us to reach the palace, or what used to be the palace, but it was still nighttime when we did. And something I wasn't expecting was waiting for us right on the palace grounds.

"W-Wha… it was underground when it was shown to us before," I said in confusion as we slowly approached the massive structure. The Eclipse Portal was truly something to behold. It was beautiful but also slightly eerie. And beside it not being underground like it should have been, it was also partly open already.

"Why in the world is it open?" Levy questioned at my side. That's exactly what I was wondering, and for some reason the hairs on the back of my neck began to stand up. But then again, that was probably just from the atmosphere the portal had surrounding it.

"We can't let it bother us right now," I stated firmly before starting to walk up to it. "Let's get it open all the way."

Even though it was difficult, I managed to push one of the gigantic doors open with my one arm while Levy opened the other. We were instantly bathed in a heavenly white light that poured out from within the portal, and a sudden gust of wind picked up the end of my cloak and billowed it around my shoulders. My and Levy's hair began swirling around our faces and my hand subconsciously reached up to grab at Natsu's scarf.

"Rather foreboding, isn't it…" Levy murmured. I understood what she meant, but instead of being intimidated, I felt a hopeful feeling rising in my stomach.

"This could save the world," I mumbled, staring into the light that enveloped us both. I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply. The faces of Natsu, Erza, Gray, and Wendy appeared before my eyes, and then Happy and Carla. My team… my friends… my family. They were all waiting for me just beyond that white veil.

"There seems to be a control panel of some sort over here," Levy announced, bringing me out of my temporary trance. I looked over to see what she meant and noticed that she was right. A control panel that must control the amount of time that will be travelled and a large gold lever stood off to the left side of the portal. Levy began moving toward it.

"Will you be able to work it?" I asked.

"Hopefully it won't be too difficult," she replied, approaching the panel. After a quick look-over, she started messing with it. I didn't try to interfere because I knew how smart Levy was and I had confidence that she'd be able to figure it out.

After a few moments, she turned back to me and gave me a thumbs up, which made my heart begin beating faster. Surely I wasn't afraid? No, I didn't have time for that right now. I gripped Natsu's scarf tighter and gazed into the white abyss before me.

"Uh, Lu-chan…" I looked back over at Levy, who was staring down at the ground.

"Is everything okay?" I asked in concern. She shuffled her feet slightly before looking back up at me.

"I'm going to stay here," she told me. "I'm… I'm afraid to return to that world. I don't think I'd be able to handle seeing it all again… not after everything that's happened." She walked forward and took my hand in hers when she approached me. "I've set the portal to take you back to the first day of the Grand Magic Games. I have confidence that you can do this without me." With tears beginning to roll down her cheeks, Levy gave me a smile. After digesting her words, I began to cry too.

"Oh, Levy-chan…" I pulled her into my one arm and hugged her, and we stood there hugging and crying until Levy finally pulled away. She wiped the tears from her eyes and then wiped the ones from mine as well, still with that same smile on her face.

"You're so strong, Lu-chan… I know you can do this," she told me confidently. I returned her smile and nodded.

"I won't let you down," I assured her. "I'm going to save this world… I'm going to protect this future!"

After Levy moved back, I took another deep breath and faced the whiteness again. I could see those I loved in the light, holding out their hands to me. They were waiting for me… they were counting on me…

"_Lucy… protect… the future…"_

My hand grasped his scarf again and my lips turned up in a smile.

"I promise I will," I said through my tears, and then I took those few steps forward and entered the beckoning light before me.

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><p><strong>I really had a blast writing this. I enjoy writing angsty stuff a lot more than happy stuff… maybe I'm just super morbid.<strong>

**Thank you again for checking this story out! Once again, please go check out the fanart that inspired this story that I linked at the beginning! It's absolutely beautiful and it's definitely worth your time! (be sure to play the music that was posted along with it to get the full effect!)**

**Also, please do leave me a review and let me know what you think! This will not be my only _Fairy Tail_ fanfiction, I can promise you that. Like I mentioned at the beginning, I've been working on the layout for a much bigger, multi-chapter AU story that I am totally STOKED to write, but I really wanted to practice writing the characters first. (even though most of the characters aren't even present here, oh well) So please let me know how I did! Getting feedback always inspires me to continue writing! :)**

**~ Tay**


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